Where Do We Go From Here

23 WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? It’s as if the irruption of the Spirit is more acutely focussed by placing it within such a constrained literary form. (Incidentally, some scholars see another chiasm inside D above, vv 29-34 – what do you think?). What then are we to make of this fascinating text and its interweaving of tradition and upheaval, its order and improvisation, its fulfilment and upending of expectations? It reminds us that when God is among us, truly among us, we might expect there to be • an integral continuity with what has come before us, as recorded in our Scriptures, our creeds, our traditions, our liturgies, and • an irruption of new life and unexpectedness into our present context, and • questions over whether or not this actually is God at work (“they’re drunk”!), and • an obligation to interpret not just our ancient texts, but the present contexts, and • the ever-radical egalitarian and inclusive Spirit of God, drawing in all those present and in so doing erasing the barriers and boundaries we think are divinely sanctioned, whatever forms they take among us. For Luke, this was around ethnicity and age and gender and citizenship. What are they for your community?